Liz Truss has this afternoon resigned as the Prime Minister after 45 days in office.

Making a statement outside Number 10 Downing Street, Ms Truss said she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected by the Conservative Party and has therefore notified King Charles III that she is resigning as leader of the party.

She added that a leadership election will be held within the next week.

A number of Conservative MPs earlier on Thursday publicly called on her to step down following a tumultuous five weeks in office.

Ms Truss was officially appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 6 September, two days before the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

She said: “I recognise that, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative party.

“This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We’ve agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week. This will ensure that we remain to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country’s economic stability and national security. I will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen.”

Labour called for an immediate general election, saying the Conservatives now had no mandate to govern.

Leader Keir Starmer MP said: “After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos. In the last few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages. The damage they have done will take years to fix.”